Getting a Boxer Dog

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Boxer Dog Nutrition

The boxer is an extremely joyful, energetic dog, but this constant stream of enthusiasm needs to be supported by a healthy diet, or you’ll end up with an unhappy dog.

Given their strong build and powerful muscle structure, boxers also eat more than other breeds of dogs. This makes it that much more important to offer him enough (but not too much) consistent food that will meet his daily needs.

There are a few problems regarding boxer dog nutrition that are quite common among owners. The first one is over or underfeeding your boxer. Out of too much care for their dog, some owners feel the need to keep the food bowl constantly full of all sorts of canine delicacies. Since a dog cannot accurately approximate how much he should eat, his constant craving for food will get him fat in no time (especially if he doesn’t exercise a lot). His nutritional needs are also based on how often you take him out for a walk or for some playtime, since the more energy he consumes, the more calories he will need to intake.

The reverse of the above mentioned boxer dog nutrition problem is underfeeding. Because owners prefer to have a lean, muscular boxer rather than a fatter one that looks out of shape, they tend to underfeed him, or severely cut the dog’s calorie count.

Although it’s ok to try and get your boxer in the shape you want him in, taking the extreme path of underfeeding will be very harmful for his health and for his attitude towards you and other people. An underfed dog will be weak, he will lack enthusiasm and his resistance to diseases will drop severely.

Another question that most owners ask themselves regarding their boxer dog’s nutrition is whether they should feed him raw, natural food, or dry dog food. To be totally honest, it’s easier to simply buy dry dog food out of the store and feed it to your dog on a daily basis, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthier too. This video shows some of the bigger problems with commercial dog food.

Any dog will prefer raw meat to some dry grains of odorless mix, unless he’s been taught to eat dry food since he was a puppy. And although most dry dog food snacks contain a high percent of the dog’s daily nutritional requirements, it should never be on his “menu” more than three times per week.

A good way to go around this problem is to combine raw diets with dry dog food ones. The BARF (Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food) diet for example, consists of all-raw, all-natural ingredients, simulating the way your dog would eat if he was still “out in the wild”.

If applied correctly, this diet will do wonders to your dog, but you might not hit the appropriate nutritional values that your dog requires. In this case, combining a BARF diet with a few meals of commercially prepared dog food, or supplements will patch up these dietary holes.